


A Man's Best Friends

by Jondera



Category: Dreaming of Sunshine - Silver Queen
Genre: Gen, Kakashi's Protectiveness, Silver Queen's Dreaming of Sunshine Universe, Training Games
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-08
Updated: 2019-05-08
Packaged: 2020-02-28 07:13:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18751576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jondera/pseuds/Jondera
Summary: Hatake Kakashi has just had his impending death canceled, and needs to process this news with those who understand him best.His dogs.





	A Man's Best Friends

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Unorganized_Shelf](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Unorganized_Shelf/gifts).



> This picks up immediately after Shikako & Co. leave Kakashi's hospital room in Chapter 125 of Dreaming of Sunshine.

Kakashi stared at the door for a long moment after the kids walked out, before turning to look back at Tsunade, still scanning through the report. Tired as he was, he would prefer to rest in his apartment, but he suspected…

Tsunade didn’t miss the glance he was giving the window. “You’re staying here overnight, Kakashi, and I’m going to have you checked on hourly. Until I know for sure that what those kids did worked, I want you parked right where you are in case there are any complications.”

He sighed, but knew better than to argue. If the price for Shikako-chan and Sasuke getting off lightly for all the rules they had bent in the past two days was him sitting in the hospital for another day, he could put up with that. At least he still had a stack of books on hand…

He slept poorly. Mostly because he kept waking up whenever the duty nurse stopped by for the mandated hourly visits to check his chakra levels - with hospital approved equipment. Granted that she was quiet and efficient and never intentionally disturbed him, but he hadn’t become an elite jonin by being a heavy sleeper. So his night ended up being more of a series of short naps… which still left him more refreshed than a full night’s sleep usually did in the wake of him knocking himself out from chakra exhaustion, which suggested that the problem was, in fact, fixed.

Normally, that would have been enough for him to decamp as soon as the sun was up, but with possible consequences to Shikako hanging over his head, he played the dutiful jonin and stayed put.

It was early afternoon before Tsunade returned, the report in one hand and the clipboard with the results of the hourly chakra readings in the other. She gave him a much more thorough examination than the nurses had, then grunted. “As far as I can tell, your chakra generation is exactly what it should be for your age and experience. Which means it worked.” She looked almost annoyed at the admission. “In any event, I’m not going to tie up a bed with a patient who appears to be fully recovered and clearly doesn’t want to be here, so scoot. No serious jutsu or strenuous chakra use for at least 48 hours.” She scooped up the reports and paperwork and headed out the door.

Kakashi didn’t waste any time, collecting his things and stepping out the window and took off over the rooftops back to his apartment. He wanted to train - a week in bed was not the best way to stay in shape, and he had a new technique to iron the kinks out of, but that would probably fall under the category of strenuous chakra use, and Tsunade would find out somehow. So best not.

Setting his books down on the kitchen table he gazed around the sparse apartment, and pondered what he could do to start getting himself back in shape without anyone saying anything about him pushing himself to hard… his eyes passed down the row of storage scrolls on the shelf, before jumping back to one at the very end. Picking it up, he realized he couldn’t remember the last time he’d had it out, and that thought was not a comforting one. Putting the scroll firmly in his pocket, he took back off through the window and out to one of the more secluded forest training grounds.

On arrival, he opened up the scroll and unpacked it, revealing a battered cardboard box, which he reverently opened, reaching in and carefully sorting through the contents, selecting a number of items which he secreted around his person before closing and resealing the box. Then he went through the handsigns for the summoning technique and brought his entire pack out.

As the smoke cleared, they all looked around at the trees expectantly, then back at him for instructions. Pakkun spoke up first “What’s up boss? Someone you need tracked? Or…”

Kakashi eye-smiled and said “Not today… I’ve just had some very good news and thought we could celebrate today.” And with a flourish, he produced a half dozen of the brightly colored balls he’d taken from the box, and relaxed as all eight of his ninken perked up at the sight. 

Without waiting for a response, Kakashi started tossing the balls in different directions, hands dipping to retrieve more from his pouches and pockets as he emptied them. The ninken scattered, each knowing their roles without needing to discuss them; this was an old training exercise for them, which Minato-sensei had helped Kakashi develop back when he first signed the Dog contract. After sensei’s death… at first he hadn’t wanted to have fun, then the training exercise - more of a game by then - reminded him to much of everything he had lost. By the time he could have faced it again, he was so deep in ANBU that he didn’t even consider it.

But while Kakashi may have forgotten about this, it was clear the ninken had not, and they dived back into the old patterns like it had only been yesterday, not fourteen years ago. Bull was the first line of defense, staying in close, taking advantage of his size and surprising speed to block throws early, slowing Kakashi down and stopping some of the balls almost immediately. Urushi, Shiba, Akino, and Uhei spread out, each taking a quadrant around Kakashi and intercepting as many balls as they could before they disappeared into the brush, their aerobatics as they bounced off trees and branches to intercept each ball almost mesmerising to watch. Good as they were, though, a handful of balls made it out and landed in the brush beyond, where Guruko, Bisuke, and Pakkun patrolled, keen noses perked for the subtle scent markers on each ball, to pick them up and bring them back.

Kakashi kept pulling more balls from his pockets until he had 20 in the game, throwing them out and then taking them back as the ninken retrieved them and returned them to him only to whip them away again. Before, they’d been able to go as high as 34 balls at once, but he didn’t want to push things very hard today; they all deserved a chance to relax and enjoy themselves.

Once the game had been going for around five minutes, he took it mobile, switching positions and jumping from tree to tree even as he continued to fling the balls out in any direction he thought he could get one past the ninken. They all kept pace, maintaining their positions hemming him in and obviously enjoying themselves as they got into the game.

He lost some track of time, but it must have been at least half an hour later that he noticed he was starting to slow down, and he and Bull both lunged in the same direction at once and he tripped over the large bulldog. All his ninken immediately swooped down in concern, but Kakashi just sprawled on the forest floor, laughing quietly. The dogs exchanged worried looks with each other and Pakkun dropped the ball he was carrying before jumping up on Kakashi’s chest. “Boss? Are you OK?”

Kakashi just sighed. “Yeah. Yeah, I am. For the first time in… a long time, I can honestly say I think everything’s going to be okay.”


End file.
